During the summer of 2013, an emerging Cincinnati Bengals offense was imagining the possibilities.

One word was attached to those: If.

If Marvin Jones can build on an encouraging rookie year. If Mohamed Sanu can take the next step.

They were originally afterthoughts, but effective weapons particularly during a second half of the 2012 season when a young team grew up in the blink of an eye winning seven of its final eight to charge to the playoffs.

Across from A.J. Green in 2013, this could be special, it was said. Turns out, the optimism of that summer was well founded when Jones and Sanu combined for 98 receptions, 1,167 yards and 12 touchdowns that season.

Since Jones and Sanu left during the free agency period of 2016, the Bengals have tried to recreate that explosive magic across from their superstar. It’s been noticeably absent and not hard to correlate to missing the postseason back-to-back years.

The release of Brandon LaFell on Thursday signaled more than a savings of $2.75 million. It was the Bengals officially waving the flag of optimism and comfort yet again in the receiver room. With Tyler Boyd, John Ross and Josh Malone, specifically, they are willing to cast off the insurance policy.

They’ve seen enough.

Clear the deck and let the next generation grow up.

“The thing about with these guys, (wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell) talks about that third year when a guy just blossoms,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. “We’ve got a bunch of second- and third-year guys in that room. All of a sudden they knew what to do more than maybe before, but it’s different when you feel like you really can play at game speed. When you can start working more and more on the details of the game because the big picture makes sense to you. I think we are starting to see that with some of these second- and third-year guys.”

Andy Dalton has seen it before. He’s one of only three players remaining on offense – along with Green and Clint Boling – from the 2012 transition.

“Yeah, I think there are some similarities to that,” the 30-year-old quarterback said. “But I think the difference is I’m not young, too. I’m now age-wise the oldest guy on offense. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

LaFell set the bar for the level of play, but the Bengals spent more draft capital in 2016-17 on receivers than any other team in the NFL with a first, second and fourth rounder. They drafted those players to eventually exceed LaFell’s baseline. There's a reason he was still here and collected $1.25 million in bonuses instead of being let go in March. The kids hadn't proven they could do it yet.

There is no debating how the organization feels about that question now.

“We’ve got guys that can really play,” A.J. Green said. “It’s going to be tough, the business side sucks because you form this relationship and the next day he could be gone. These young guys, though, are ready to play right now.”

Few would know better than Green. The seven-time Pro Bowler embraced a similar movement. He saw Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell not retained after his rookie season. In 2012, Armon Binns and Brandon Tate opened the season in a starting rotation along with Andrew Hawkins. Sanu and Jones took over the starting roles midway through 2012 and the deck was cleared for them to open 2013 as the guys.

That year, Dalton set what’s still the franchise record for passing yards (4,293) and touchdown passes (33) in a season.

“I understand,” Green said. “I came here starting fresh. I had (Simpson) and then my second year, everybody got let go. I was the oldest guy in there at that point and I was only going into my second year.”

Not all teams or eras are the same, but watching Malone beat corners deep, over the middle and all over the Bengals practice fields prior to pulling a hamstring earlier this week made for an easy comparison. He caught six passes for 69 yards and a touchdown in limited snaps last year.

Nobody has more potential than Ross, who is finally trending in the direction the team envisioned when selecting him No. 9 overall in 2017.

Then there’s Boyd, as much the reason for LaFell’s expendability as anyone. The moment he rose for a back shoulder touchdown in the rear of the end zone on Wednesday and a few plays later lept over Darqeuze Dennard for an acrobatic score, the exclamation point was placed next to the writing on the wall.

“We’ve definitely been working to get to this point,” Boyd said on Thursday. “I’m in my third year. I go out each and every day and try to put my best film out there to show them I am here to help them win games.”

It’s made for one of the best early camps of Dalton’s eight-year career.

“Even with John (Ross) he didn’t have a ton of playing time last year, being around it and everything that experience is paying off,” Dalton said. “Same with Josh (Malone). To play in some meaningful games was big. You can see the way those guys are in practice. Obviously, Tyler (Eifert) is having an unbelievable camp. Everybody is just hitting their stride.”

Boyd is locked in as the starting slot receiver, but along with Ross and Malone, they can all line up outside. Alex Erickson continues to perform like a player you will regret cutting just as he has his first two camps with the team. Then you throw in the eye-opening arrival of massive seventh-round pick Auden Tate, who could become a potent red-zone weapon at 6-5, 225 pounds and maybe the best hands on the team. Then out of nowhere, nobody made more plays in Thursday’s practice than Cody Core.

All these young players won’t pan out. NFL odds almost guarantee it. But there is too much potential ready to break through to hold on to LaFell just in case.

They’ve cleared the path before, they can only hope to replicate the results.

“There’s a reason we drafted everybody and reason they are there: To play them,” Dalton said. “We’ve got guys that can do a lot ... We have young talent, guys that can run. That’s what this offense is built for.”